Yes I guess you have to be prepared for anything in this league. This has always been a young man's sport, but here's why I don't think the Brett Favre example is a good comparison to Aaron, even though I concede, he said himself "its possible" he'd retire elsewhere. Being possible and probable are 2 different animals.
We all remember Brett announcing his retirement on more than one occasion and then changing his mind. He had tearful goodbyes on National T.V. and then a couple of months later (or whatever) he suddenly wants to play again. Brett Favre played the quintessential "Boy who Cried Wolf" act and IMO, I believe it started
before being broadcast on National TV. The GBP were smart to get his successor because of it and he really forced them to for all practical purposes. Brett Favre actually believed he was invincible to a degree (which is what made him who he is) and even after knowing they drafted Rodgers several years earlier, he had the audacity to come back after formerly retiring and suddenly wanted to play again and he even did that very late considering. Unfortunately (depending on your point of view at that time) it was too little too late. The team had decided to move on and build a team around their new QB and the we all know the rest of the story.
Here's where Aaron's story differs. He said he wanted to play into his 40's and retire with the Packers. Many fans would agree that Aaron is in better shape at this point of his career (yes even with the collar bone breaks). He sat on the bench for 3 years (not including the games he missed due to the collar bone, calf muscle etc..) so he doesn't have the mileage that Brett had when he turned 34. It is also widely known that Aaron takes care of his body better overall. Another point is that Aaron is also a better QB by comparison of actual statistical information with the same number of games started compared to Brett Favre, so one could argue Aaron has a greater degree of error of acceptable margin before his numbers drop to an unacceptable level of play. What made Favre great was he was a solid QB that also played through pain (granted through some good pain meds).
Don't misunderstand me, a team should always have a backup plan, but with the number of FA veterans that are in this league there is always options to trade for a backup on short term notice etc.. until said team can fix their situation if someone just suddenly calls it quits. I don't think this is the appropriate time to draft his successor and if anything you might just promote Aaron to leaving earlier than he wants to by doing that. I do however think we need an adequate veteran backup solution in the meantime
so here it goes..
